Virtual High
by it-nerd179
Summary: In a school made special for UTAUloids, crazy things happen. Paper-snowball fights, concerts by Miku's highly-trained show-choir, terrible pickup-lines, it's all there. After one unforgettable prom night, intense teenage hormones fly as perfect disguises are pulled off, secrets are hidden, and true love is found.
1. Prologue

**Prologue – First Day's Start**

* * *

_"Poiyo... It's time to wake up..."_

Disturbed from a much-loved sleep; one of Matsudappoiyo's greatest vexations. His slow transitioning from a dreamy subconsciousness to the fully-awake state only allowed for him to lay in his bed and moan softly.

_"Come on, Poiyo, school starts today, you need to get up!"_

The source of the smooth familiar voice began gently shaking his sleepy form. More complaint-filled groans followed.

The awake roommate humphed, "Poiyo, I just got an idea, and if you don't get up out of bed, I guarantee you, you're not going to like it".

Poiyo gathered the minimum required energy to do nothing more than lazily pull the thick blankets over his head. He knew very well that this roommate of his is early to rise, perhaps a little too early for his own good.

Moments of still silence; then the blankets slowly slid off the bed, landing on the floor, leaving Poiyo exposed to the cool air of the early morning. The sleepy utau hated the feeling: the loss of comforting heat. He curled up on his side, trying to preserve whatever heat remained where he lay.

"Aaaw~ You really are a deep sleeper, aren't you? Come here...". A pair of arms—overwhelmingly freezing at the tips of the fingers—took a hold of him from under the knees and the upper-back, slowly dragging him up out of the leisure of his bed. Feeling the slight rhythmic bumps of the carrier's footsteps, he opened his eyes; which met with the vivid blue of Ron Keine's. Poiyo tried his best to make a slight pout, a false dislike to being carried out of bed; simultaneously contradicted by slight snuggling as his head leaned on the front of Ron's shoulder. The tired conscience never lies.

Ron mocked the other's pout, lips poked out slightly, but more so in the form of a somewhat taunting smile.

"See? Waking up isn't so difficult, is it?"

Poiyo's response consisted of a few sleepy-eyed blinks and a slight shift in the position of his head, trying to be more comfortable while held in Ron's arms.

Ron laughed softly: "I can't tell if you like this or hate it". Good thing, too; no need to be embarrassed if an insignificant truth is never revealed. Thankfulness was cut short by the deep low laughter of a third individual, a very peculiar and quirky individual.

Ura Ron; the cocky, blonde doppelganger of Ron Keine, as if he was some sort of cloning experiment gone wrong.

"Ha!" Ura Ron was amused by what he saw, "When you told me that Poiyo loves to sleep, you weren't kidding!". In response, Poiyo turned his head and gave the blonde an irritated expression, unintentionally entertaining his target by mistake.

"You oughta put him down, lil' brother, seems like he just might fall asleep while you're holding him~" The blonde continued.

"Hm, you're right..." The original Ron temporarily glanced at Poiyo, then back at his look-alike: "...and I'm _not_ your little brother; I was created first, so that makes _me_ older."

"Whatever, _Ron-Ron_" A smile grew on Ura Ron's face, "but if we were the Mario Brothers, you know very well that I'd be Mario, 'cause I'm awesome like that". Ron Keine shook his head in disapproval: this was the reason that he preferred Sonic games over the mainstream Nintendo that his look-alike played. With that said and done, the blonde figured it was time for Poiyo's morning dose of annoyance.

"Anyway, who _wouldn't_ resist holding someone _so cute_ when he's sleepy?" The quirky utau leaned in very close to Poiyo's face—noses almost touching—and continued on about Poiyo and his unintentional cuteness.

"...'cause you're just _so cute and adorable_ and you make all your fan-girls _so happy_ and they just want to pinch your cheeks and—"

His teasing was spontaneously interrupted when Poiyo jumped out of Ron's hold and pounced on the other—too tired to intend for any harm—and knocked him down to the floor successfully. Ura Ron laughed out loud at such a surprise, "Oh! It's a baby tiger! Two can play at that game!". They play-wrestled, each trying to pin the other down to the carpeted floor of the hallway. Poiyo's resistance to smile had ceased, especially with Ura Ron making horribly-executed tiger-growls through his laughter as they wrestled.

"Come on, guys..." Keine Ron sighed, "I know you two are excited for school, but that gives you no right to act like a bunch of little kids". Ura Ron turned around to respond to what was said:

"—" The blonde was immediately caught off-guard and sent tumbling from another of Poiyo's pounces. For the time being, he allowed the short-haired sleeper to pin him to the floor.

"_Hell yeah_, we're excited! Virtual High School is, like, _heaven_ for all of us! And who's to say _we're_ being little kids when _you_ were crying about your meat-bun being too spicy the other night?"

"Hey, I wasn't _crying_, I was complaining." Ron pouted, "It was really spicy, okay? I usually don't like it like that".

"You had tears in your eyes, you were crying".

"It was late at night, I was really over-tired, and I'm sensitive to spicy foods when I'm tired, okay?".

"Sensitive, my ass. You cried because you and your spoiled-self didn't have it your way".

"Shut up..." He continued his (rather cute) pout; looking away in another direction, arms folded, and letting his undone hair hide his face a tad.

"Now... Where was I?" Ura Ron turned his attention from his 'older sibling' to Poiyo, who had loosened his grip on the blonde during their bickering. "Ah, yes... Poiyo...". The blonde managed to flip the both of them over so that he was on top pinning Poiyo instead of the other way around. A fourth voice—softer and feminine—sounded in the hallway.

_"Supervising foreplay, eh, Ron?"_

The joking tone of Matsudappoine caught the three boys' attentions.

Hearing the rather unexpected remark from Matsudappoiyo's sister sent Ura Ron literally rolling on the floor laughing; rolling off of Poiyo, who was also having a difficult time controlling his laughter. Even Ron looked away, trying to hide his smile; he knew the situation she caught them all in could have easily been misinterpreted at first sight.

"`Morning, guys; glad to see everyone is up and full of energy". Her smile was warm and welcoming, the remainder of her body-language spelled perky, a bit tomboyish, down-to-earth teen. Living in the same house with three boys would turn any humble and gentle girl into someone a little rougher and tougher.

"We've got about forty-five minutes before we have to leave for school, so make sure you're all ready before then". Poine was, in a sense, a motherly figure of the house; she tells the boys what has to be done, and they do it. If one of the boys—usually Ura Ron—does something he's not supposed to, she would scold him for it accordingly and even come up with the appropriate punishment.

The adrenaline in Ura Ron and Poiyo began to slowly disappear; their play-time was over because Poine said so. The energetic blonde quickly rolled up onto his feet and went on into his bedroom to begin his morning routine, but not before playfully tackling Ron in a hug upon departure. Then Poiyo got up on his feet, stretched a little, and let out a small sigh as he rubbed the back of his head.

"You just _had_ to carry me out of bed, didn't you, Ron?"

"It's not my fault you refused to wake up~" Ron smiled slightly.

"Mmm... Whatever." He mumbled, still with a hint of sleepiness in his speech, "Come on, do as my sister says and get ready for school."

* * *

**Author's Note: Jeez, I've been wanting to write a fan-fiction for awhile... I've tried to do so a few times, but I end up losing interest and never finishing it.**

**So now, I'll try again; this time with UTAUloids Ron Keine, Matsudappoiyo, and some others.**

**I also want to let you know that since I haven't written much of anything in a long, long time, that the first few chapters of this will be... kinda... meh, not so great. **

**So... yeah. Stick around for the first official chapter of Virtual High!~ :D**


	2. Reunions, New Kids, & Flying Paper Wads

**Chapter 1 – Reunions, New Kids, and Crumpled Paper-Wads**

The school was about a 20-minute drive from the subdivision of small houses in which they lived. About one-third of the trip consisted of slow turns within the intricate intersections of the housing development; with some of the streets' corners occupied by either one, two, or small groups of fellow utauloids. Those were the young unfortunate ones that had to ride one of the many crowded, chaotic buses to school.

Virtual High: a vast school of 3 floors, holding well over 4000 students with plenty of room for more. It was the only school in their district of the virtual world, and it had the best of pretty much everything; 2 auditoriums, a gymnasium with an all-around balcony overlooking the entire court from above, a library occupying all 3 floors, recording studios, and so much more, all within the same building. It was more so a heaven than a school for the utau.

The giant metal doors swung open, and almost by instinct, Ron, Poiyo, Ura Ron, and Poine, navigated through the maze of white hallways to the library where most of their friends gather before the morning-bell.

A familiar greeting echoed from a perpendicular hallway on the left.

"Hey! Poiyo!~"

The group stopped and turned their heads to the source of the sound, finding two famous siblings of long, wine-red drill-hair and dark gray outfits. Poiyo smiled.

"Ted!"

The two quickly exchanged a casual hug and did their routine secret handshake, practiced and perfected.

"Long time, no see, right?"

"I know! What happened to you?"

"Ah, you know, everyone is the VIPPER-mansion was always keeping me busy, especially _this crazy party-girl _here..." Ted nudged Teto with his elbow in his harsh brotherly manner; soft enough not to hurt her or totally knock her over, but hard enough to throw off Teto's balance for a moment. Teto playfully responded with a punch to his shoulder.

"Hehehe... Anyway," Ted gives some attention to the look-alikes, "I assume by the lack of bandages on your faces, you two Rons behaved well for Poine?". Ura Ron smirked upon hearing the question.

"I sure did, I don't know about _Ron-Ron_, though~" The blonde obnoxiously put an arm around the other's shoulder. "You should have _seen_ the shenanigans he got involved in~"

"Aahhhh... Shut up." Ron smirked back and pushed Ura Ron away. "You know the whole _'Nyan-Cat shopping-cart-thing'_ was all your idea."

"That was _you guys!?_ I thought that was Rook and Sora!"

"No, it was just Ura Ron! I tried to stop him, but he pulled me in with him!"

"Admit it, you wanted in on the fun."

"No!"

"Mm-hm~"

"You have _no idea_ how incredibly stupid all that was. I'm surprised I didn't—"

"Ah, quit your whining, you weren't going to die. Besides, everyone needs an adrenaline-rush every once in awhile."

"Not from something like that!"

"I thought you two promised me you'd behave for Poine!"

"_I did_, Ura Ron didn't!"

"Did too!"

"Did _not!_"

"Did, _too!_"

"Did, _**not!**_"

A sissy, long-distance slap-fight ensued, with Ted in the middle trying to intervene.

"Poiyo, help me out here! These two are a worse than before!". Poiyo couldn't help but laugh at the minor diddling chaos the three of them were creating.

Meanwhile, Teto and Poine were already walking down the hallway on their way to the library, taking a step every two or three seconds with excited words running out of their mouths at a hundred miles an hour.

"So have you talked to Defoko lately? Had my hands full with Ura Ron getting into trouble, you know."

"Yeah, we've talked. She told me she's going to try out some Advanced Placement classes, like... um... what was it? AP Psych, I think?"

Poine gasped, "_No way!_"

"_Yes_ way!"

"I heard that class was, like, _impossible_! No one's walked out of that class with an 'A' yet!"

"I know, I know, but this is _Defoko_ we're talking about! She might be the first to earn such a grade!"

"Hmm... Good point."

"Hey, did you get your schedule?"

"Yeah."

"Let me see! Let me see!"

"Okay, okay! Just gotta get it out of my _Narnia-of-a-backpack_ here... a-ha!"

"Alright! Let's see if we have any classes together!"

"Hmm... Hey! You ended up in Gym with me!"

"Yeah... and with Kaito as the instructor."

"Uuuuuugh! That pervert! We're screwed! So totally screwed!"

"Yeah, literally _and_ metaphorically."

"Hahaha, good one."

"Hey, look, we ended up in two more classes together."

"And they're the boring ones, too, _yes!_ Now they won't be as boring!"

"Alriiiiiiight!~". Teto and Poine high-fived.

Poiyo had overheard fragments of the girls' conversation over the noise from the two Rons and Ted, making him wonder what the others' schedules for school looked like. His curiosity, along with having his fun in watching the three of them bicker and struggle, was enough to finally help Ted with breaking up Ron and Ura Ron's little quarrel. After letting out a small sigh, he casually walked around the constantly shuffling sibling-brawl until he was right behind Ura Ron. Knowing the blonde long enough to know where exactly his weak points are, Poiyo does nothing more than pinch the commonly-known pressure-point between the blonde's shoulder and neck.

The blonde barely managed to squeak a response, "Aaaaahahaha... Dammit, Poiyo..." his urge to playfully execute another hit had disappeared almost instantly.

"Come on, Teto and Poine are already halfway there to the library" Poiyo pointed out. The mentioning of the library put an end to the remainder of the small action, also reminding Ted of something related to the sort.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you," He said, "We found a new table to sit at. Come, follow me, I'll show you..."

* * *

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, _wait a minute..._" Ura Ron began to complain, "So _you're_ telling _me_, that we're giving up our awesome spot on the first floor of the library..." He carelessly threw his backpack onto the large, unfamiliar table. "...For some other spot up here on the second floor with all these isles of giant, dusty books!?"

He was immediately shushed by the remainder of the clique, which included Ted, Teto, Rook, Ruko, and Sora.

"Can you just _chill_, for like, _five minutes_?" Sora hushed the quirkier blonde, "I'm sure Ted has a good explanation as to why he picked this spot, am I right?". Ura Ron turned his attention toward him, with one eyebrow raised, waiting for said explanation in slight curiosity.

Ted sighed, not wanting to explain a reason that the quirky blonde may or may not understand. "I chose this table here mainly for convenience; in case someone started their day with a class on the first floor and others had their starting class on the third floor. That and... Too many Oversea UTAU on the first floor... All the stupid shit that happened last year, I was just tired of it."

"So... Basically, you moved us so we could get to our classes faster and so you don't have as bad of a headache each morning?"

"Pretty much."

Ura Ron pouted slightly upon hearing this, only to come up with an idea that can win his favorite table back: "I bet a majority of us don't even _have_ classes on the third floor."

Ted adjusted his glasses and leaned forward somewhat in interest: "How much do you wanna bet?"

"My favorite table versus this one. If I win, we move back to our old spot. If you win, we stay here."

Ted smiled, knowing this was an easy victory, "Deal. Alright everyone, you heard us, pull out your schedules."

The whole group began unzipping their backpacks, reaching into them to find their schedules, excited to compare them to those of their peers'. Some were more—or less—organized than others, causing some slight delay. When a majority of the sheets of paper were taken out, they were passed around from one utauloid to another in every possible combination, followed by the schedules from the less-organized few. Schedules were held side-by-side, classes were announced with excitement, awe, and sometimes, confusion; ultimately creating a miniature cacophony within the group.

"I've got Piko's _Intro to MIDIs_ class with Teto, third floor!"

"_Aiyaaaa_, I start the day with English this semester... and with Ura Ron, on top of that..."

"Shut up, _Ron-Ron_."

"Hey, come on, it's your last required English class, don't go complaining so soon."

"Poiyo's in the MIDI-class first period, too. Looks like you're losing."

"Oooohhh, Poiyoooo~ Look who ended up in AP Psych with Defokooooo~"

"What!? But _how_?"

"I have no idea, but just know, you're probably not getting much sleep this year."

"Sora's in Gym first period with Kaito! First floor!"

"Oh, _hell no_..."

"Studio-Recording, _yes!_"

"Well, well, well, look who _finally_ made it into Meiko's _Culinary Arts_ class after signing up for it two years in a row~"

"What?"

"Yeah! See for yourself!"

"Hey, Show-Choir taught by both Miku _and_ IA... That class is going to be _huge_..."

"Poiyo, Ron, you two have Spanish together. Clara's teaching it, too."

"Oh! I've got Big Al teaching… _Analytical Mechanics?_ The hell's that!?"

"I think it has something to do with engineering... like... gear-work and stuff."

"Yeah, you'll be fixing wind-up toys and things of the sort."

"Hey, I got that class, too."

"Me, three!"

"I did, too."

"Oh my God, so it's me, Rook, Ruko, Sora, and Ura Ron... all in Mechanics?"

"Ooohohohoho, that's the _perfect_ class right there!"

"_No_, it's _not_, especially with both you and Rook together..."

"Come on, Ted, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Don't _even_ go there, you _know_ what happened with you two and Gumi in Algebra last year..."

"Bah, that was nothing."

"_Nothing...?_ Okay, I'll be honest, I'm a bit concerned now..."

"Teto has Weight-Lifting! What the hell?"

"That's second semester, moron."

"Thank _whatever-God-is-out-there_ you have it, though; you need some place to let out all that spare energy of yours... Make you less crazy before next summer starts..."

"Psh, yeah, whatever... I'll get that switched out to Show-Choir or something, should be an easy fix."

Ted figured the group was getting distracted, and decided to take a quick role-call.

"Alright, so how many of us have their first class on the third floor?"

"I do!"

"Me, too!"

"Alright, that's two."

"I think we do, too, and I have another class on the third floor second semester."

"That's five. Ura Ron, what's your standing?"

"Um... Hold on, I'm trying to remember... um... There's Sora first semester, and... um... Poiyo's in AP Psych..."

"That's second floor, that doesn't count."

"Dammit, um... Ron's got Culinary whatever, that's third floor... um..."

"Is that all?"

"Wait! I think there's... Um... Hold on, I think I might have lost count..." Ura Ron tried to delay his defeat, but found no point in doing so. The blonde pouted again, "Fine... You win".

The drill-haired man smiled slightly and took his seat at the newly-claimed table, putting an elbow on it and resting his head on his hand, "I hope you learned not to make stupid bets like that with me anymore~"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ura Ron pulled out a chair and sat down at the fairly large table.

Rook walked over to where Ura Ron was sitting and put an arm around the blonde's shoulder, with a smirk on his face indicating he had an idea.

"Hey, Ura… You know what's great about this spot?"

A short groan in question was his response.

"Wait here, I'll show ya". Rook opened his backpack once more and pulled out a few sheets of loose-leaf paper, crumpling it into a compact, handful-sized wad. He nudged his quirky buddy to stand up and walk with him to the edge of the balcony, overlooking the massive first floor of the library from all angles.

"Look at all the Oversea UTAU down there..." Rook began.

"There's some Locals down there, too—"

"No, no, no, that's not the point, just look..."

"Okay..." They gazed upon the first floor of the library, all tables down there were occupied—some overfull. The isles of shelves all the way out in the back were nearly empty—save a few individuals that enjoyed reading.

"Now, listen, if you play your cards right, you can put on a show down there, and be safe from all the way up here, get what I'm saying?"

A similar smirk grew on Ura Ron's face, along with an eyebrow raised: "Show me an example~"

Keine Ron withdrew his attention temporarily from the main group at the table and noticed the smirks and the paper-wad held between Rook's index finger and thumb. "Oh, no... This _can't_ be good" he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, the blonde and his shorter companion scanned the floor below them for a perfect, unsuspecting target.

"There." Ura Ron pointed out.

"Where?"

"With the blue hair and the blackish dress... Sitting between that green-haired dude and that blonde with the wolf-ears."

"Playing the video-game, right?"

"Yeah, her."

"Dude, that's Aiko. I heard she's got a short temper."

"Exactly. The thing is, no one knows we're up here, and with a short temper like hers..."

"...We can cause a metaphoric Doomsday for everyone within a five-meter radius of her!"

Mischievous laughter ensued, drawing attention from the others at the table. The moment Ted had noticed, he immediately knew what was going to happen, eyes widening from the foreseen devastation. He stood up from his seat, putting a hand out to try and stop them; "Rook, Ura, _no..._". It was no use, no stopping those two when they already had a plan, even Ted knew that.

Rook shut one eye tight as he aimed carefully, while mischievous smiles grew wider by the moment on both of their faces. With a little force behind the push, he let the paper-wad fly. It successfully headed on its intended path. The ball of paper bounced off the back of her head, surprising her and causing her to jump in her seat a little. As predicted, her anger built up rather quickly as she paused her game and turned around to find what had hit her, noticing the paper-wad on the floor and picking it up. Another table of Oversea UTAU nearby happened to laugh right at the time the paper-wad had hit her—more than likely at a joke that was told, but no, no, no, she wasn't going to be _that_ gullible. The blonde utauloid with wolf-ears that went by the name of Kenji Baionoto noticed that Aiko got up out of her seat.

"Aiko, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" She muttered, tossing the ball of paper up and down in her right hand, "but those idiots at that table over there are going to pay for what they did!" She took on an all-out throwing position.

"Aiko, I don't it's necessary to—" too late. The blue-eyed girl launched the paper-wad at full-speed, missing by a few inches due to her temper. It zoomed past the shoulder of another girl with a white jacket and dark brown shoulder-length hair, Utaune Nami.

Nami then flinched in surprise, quickly turning around with spontaneous annoyance in her sparkling brown eyes.

"H-hey! What was _that_ for!?" She called out.

"Don't play stupid, Nami!" Aiko retorted, "You're the idiot that threw this at me!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Liar!"

"I'm serious!"

Meanwhile, Rook and Ura Ron exchanged a high-five as they tried to repress their laughter by biting their lower-lip and repeatedly hitting the chrome railing of the balcony. Ura Ron's strength to stand was beginning to subside. As the action below began to unfold, the other Ron shook his head slowly in disapproval and covered his face. Poine and Teto covered their mouths in shock, exchanging glances, and then looking on over the balcony from the table they were sitting at to continue watching the action. Sora and Poiyo were smiling, but not laughing like Rook and Ura Ron were. Ted's simply shot the mischievous duo a look that said _"Did you seriously just do that?"_.

Down below, the argument was intensifying for every passing moment.

"...How about a taste of your own medicine!" Nami threw the ball of paper back at Aiko, nailing it in the center of her forehead.

"Oh. No. You. Didn't." Without even thinking, Aiko took that same ball of paper and threw it once again, trying to hit Nami's face. The ball flew past her and hit one of Nami's friends, Wakana Ayane.

"Ha! You couldn't even hit the ocean with a beach-ball if you tried!" Nami laughed, "Come on, Wakana, let's show her how aiming carefully is _really_ done~".

"I'd be more than happy to." She nods, already have taken out about a dozen sheets of paper and crumpled them while Nami bickered with Aiko. Before anything could be done to avoid it or stop it, the wads of paper flew through the air, hitting Aiko and her table of friends.

"Hey! S-stop!" Kenji jolted out of his seat and stood protectively in front of Aiko, "We don't have to start the school-year this—" A second attempt to prevent chaos was interrupted by a short-lived rain of a dozen crumpled balls of paper, most of them hitting Kenji with a decent accuracy. Matheiu Rosaire, though not approving of what was happening to his fellow utau, wanted in on the fun, taking some of the stationary wads from the floor and sending them flying through the air as well. Within seconds, the two neighboring tables at paper-war, either throwing the projectiles or supplying more ammunition.

Plenty of attention was drawn from everyone else in the library; some giggling and exchanging glances at one another, others not knowing what to do or think. Then, from another area in the crowd of the library, the one and only Namine Ritsu stood up on a table and shouted at the top of his Kire-voice:

_**"SNOWBALL-FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!"**_

All hell broke loose; all hope for compromise was gone. The adrenaline was rising in everyone. Tables and chairs were dragged around and over-turned all over the first floor. Oversea UTAU scrambled, diving behind tables, afraid of being pummeled and ultimately covered in a mountain of paper-wads. Three or four of the smarter individuals, in the midst of the excitement, played the more strategic role, urging neighboring utauloids to combine and stack tables, creating little forts across the wide-open library floor.

At this time, both Rook and 'Ura' were completely down on the floor, unable to stand, and crying from laughing so much. Not expecting the whole library to go into chaos the way it did, Poiyo—and even Ted—could no longer resist laughing. Ron sighed, slowly looking up from his hands; halfway afraid to see how the festivity simply exploded and how his group was reacting to it.

"Oh my God..." Sora's own voice was a bit broken up from holding back laughter, "Those Oversea UTAU... They're making little forts, like... _Ahahaha..._ Oh my_ God!_"

"Are they all just _stupid_ or what!?" Ted poked fun at all the formerly unsuspecting utauloids.

Upon hearing that comment, Poine and Teto busted in a restricted laugh with a _"PFFFFFT-"_. The stereotype gets them almost every time it's mentioned. Poine, too, had a difficult time standing, and began leaning on Teto beside her for support. Teto was unable to keep balance, causing the both of them to slowly fall onto the table in front of them for minimal support—not that they cared, the show below them was just making their day.

Tables below were mostly being combined into one of four major forts, but some were scooted against the walls by tiny independent teams of two or three. The first fort was lead by none other than 'mathloid' Yoshi Kazune, with Aiko as co-captain.

"Aiko, status report. How's the fort looking?"

"Assembly's pretty much complete, sir. We are currently preparing our first attack on Enemy Fort Nami while it's still vulnerable in its building process." She even did a salute. They've absolutely lost it.

"Perfect... At this rate, Fort Aiko should be able to prevail. Tell the others to keep up the good work."

"Yes, sir!~"

Three minutes have passed; within that time-frame, the library went from a peaceful environment to a make-believe wartime guided by role-playing major-generals.

The other two playing along—aside from the "Enemy Fort", lead by Nami and Wakana—were independent opposing forts, Fort Kenta and Fort Ritsu. All forts—big, small, or up against a wall—were sending paper projectiles out in all directions.

Kenji the Brave dashes out from behind a small, independent table and into the open, trying to escape the madness.

_**"FREE-WANDERER! HEADING THIS WAY FROM 25 PACES AT 10-O'CLOCK!"**_

_** "OPEN FIRE!"**_

Paper wads fly in a chaotic frenzy as he ran straight into the crossfire of all four major forts, being somewhat obstructed by the red jacket he had pulled over his head. He made a leap for what appeared to be an abandoned table, tipped over like all the others, acting as a barricade between the isles of bookshelves and the paper-warfare raging on behind him. Over he went, landing harshly on his right shoulder as he tumbled a little on impact.

Meanwhile, up on the second-floor balcony, the laughter from Ura Ron and the gang was gradually fading, and a majority of the group was finally able to breathe again. An unfamiliar voice chuckles lightly from the edge of the balcony some distance away from the table.

_"Hehehe... Good job."_

Somewhat simultaneously, the group turned toward the familiar sound, still halfway smiling. They lay sight upon a boy standing between Ron and Poiyo's height, his red hair tied back into a short, loose ponytail; wearing a spiked collar around his neck; and a black jacket with a white fluffy inside and ridiculously huge sleeves. He appeared to be about 16 years of age, a slight nodding of approval as he gazed upon the revelry below for another brief time. The boy appeared to be a calm, laid-back kind of guy, either from personality or a perfect disguise for sleepiness on the first day of school. He left such a first impression that made Ura Ron sit up to try and talk to him upon first sight.

"Whoa... Who the hell are _you?_" He asked in slight bewilderment.

A slight pause, followed by an undistinguished smile; he seems to like the attitude in the quirky blonde kid sitting on the floor.

"You can call me Shou... Kaneyama Shou."

More silence, aside from the cacophony of shouts, giggles, and crumpled paper bouncing off of tables and Oversea utauloids. Nothing awkward, but more so a minor interest and curiosity that leaves some speechless. Ted smiles now.

"I don't recall seeing you around last year, I assume you're newcomer?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So tell me, what part of the internet are you from?"

"Um... The Korean one...?"

"hmm..." Ted nods, raising an eyebrow in interest, "A Korean UTAU. That's a first."

Shou simply shrugs, taking—again—another glance down upon the raging paper-war. He smiles again, this time not just for show.

"That's definitely something down there..." He nods, pulling out a small remote from a pocket on his jacket, "...but personally, I think there's one more thing that would make all of this _perfect_."

He pushes a button, and within seconds, an infamous—and rather annoying—beat begins to play loudly on the school-intercom. Some in the group turned attention between the nearest speaker in the ceiling and Shou; opening their mouths slightly in surprise, and not expecting the new kid to be able to hack into the intercom-system before school even started.

The song that is absolutely dreaded to all Oversea UTAU: _Somebody That I Used to Know._

"Now, _watch..._" He then says, pointing out to the revelry below.

Paper projectiles came to a standstill; the Oversea UTAU slowly looked up at the intercom speakers from above in horror. A panic caused by the unexpected irony of it all slowly took them from the inside out—and they thought hearing it twenty times during the summer was enough. Of all times, after they thought the terror was finally over, it begins again, _That Song..._

Overseas UTAU begin to scream, covering their ears, trying to deny the horridly annoying song that blasts through the ceiling-intercom. Oh, how they all _hated_ that song. Armies from Fort Aiko and Fort Nami alike are losing their concentration.

"DON'T STAND DOWN, SOLDIERS!" Aiko shouts, energetically pointing out in front of her for emphasis, "WE MUST PREVAAAAAIL!". The fellow UTAUloids from Aiko's fort shouted, with the will to resist, as they launched a wave of crumpled papers at all possible targets.

"Oh... My... God..." Ura Ron and Rook crawled over to the edge of the balcony again, looking through the clear glass safety-barrier down. Smiles grew on their faces again. It couldn't get better, it simply could not get any better than this.

"WE MUST RESIST!" Nami yells to her make-believe troops, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GIVE IN!". Both of the opposing sides were struggling, some from each fort began shouting along to the lyrics, thus weakening fellow "soldiers" that were still trying to resist. Fort Ritsu had taken notice, and sends out a brave UTAU to dash out into the open.

**"FREE-WANDERER! COMING FROM FORT RITSU!"**

_** "OPEN FIRRRRRRRE!"**_

The rain of paper-wads—thankfully—wasn't as harsh as it was on Kenji just minutes before. The brave individual ran, as if it was for her life, to Fort Kenta all the way across the room, holding a sheet of paper with writing on it. After making a dive to avoid the projectiles behind her, she holds the message up high for Kenta and his "troops" to see. The members of Fort Kenta kindly take her in as Kenta reads Ritsu's written message. In approval, he nods, looking up to Ritsu—who was looking on anxiously for a response—and salutes to him. An alliance has been formed, and they already had a plan to take down the other two forts.

Kenta—who also temporarily lost his common sense playing major-general—then turns to his well-organized soldiers: "Sections 1A through 1F, go out and collect ammunition within a 3-meter radius of the base. Section 2B and 3E, cover the front and take in collected ammunition, and Section 5, assist the back-ups in excess ammunition-production. All other soldiers, lend the front-lines your jackets, we're going to need all the defense we can use. Does everyone copy?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" They say.

"Alright, let's do this!"

UTAUloids by the few-dozen switched positions as ordered, and those in Fort Ritsu followed suit. The plan was brilliant, especially coming from a 6-year-old. Unfortunately for Fort Aiko and Enemy Fort Nami, the obnoxious music playing from the intercom above them made them all oblivious to the gradually decreasing amount of paper-wads flying through the air—at least until there were only about two dozen in circulation. Fort Kenta's minions took their original positions and waited, just as Fort Ritsu did. Yoshi was among the first to notice that something was up.

"Captain Aiko…" He mumbled, leaning slightly toward Aiko's ear so that other soldiers—or forts—wouldn't hear, "There's been a significant decrease in airborne projectiles. Do you suppose it's a proposition for a peace-treaty?"

"Nah," She smiles slightly with confidence in her answer, eying Fort Nami in suspicion, "When someone pushes Nami this far, there's no turning back. She'll keep up with this 'till she can't keep up no more."

"But what if that's just a stubborn front? She could be plotting something tremendous, you know. It could be the end of all of us."

"I'm well aware, Captain, but what kind of plan would require a cease-fire?"

"A brilliant one, most likely."

"Hm… Could you calculate some statistics really quick? What're the odds of a cease-fire plan like this flunking?"

"Depends on how it's executed, I suppose. Surprises work the best, but we already know something is up; and since this is Nami we're talking about, I can guarantee you at least 45%, Captain."

"45% assuming their ammunition is lacking as ours is, am I right?"

"Right you are, Captain."

A slight pause; then came a sudden actualization.

"Yoshi, sir, There were thousands, if not, at least a million units of ammunition in circulation, yes?"

"Affirmative. Your point?"

"Assuming both forts are lacking projectiles, where could it all be?"

He glanced quickly to his left and right and noticed the severe lack of activity in Fort Kenta and Fort Ritsu. Slight fearfulness came upon Yoshi as he realized what exactly has happened.

"Oh, no..." He whispers, eyes widening, wanting to deny it, "We're doomed".

"What?" Aiko asks, dumbfounded.

By then, it was too late.

_**"FIRE AT WILL!"**_ Ritsu's KIRE voice rang through the library, and a vast rain of paper-wads fell upon Fort Aiko and Fort Nami. There was so much balled-up paper launched simultaneously, it seemed to form four temporarily-airborne clouds, unable to see completely through them. UTAUloids from the smaller forts could do nothing but shout and duck for cover. Both forts were pummeled harshly, the sound of thousands of paper-balls hitting tables—and fellow utau—halfway drowned out their obnoxious, giggle-filled screams. It was too much for them; being almost completely covered in mounds of crumpled paper within a half-minute. Rising out of the giant heap, the leaders of Fort Aiko and Fort Nami raise their arms into the air, surrendering to an epic defeat.

By the time the paper-snowball-war came to its conclusions, the entire group was standing at the balcony's edge, smiling in awe. The terrible song playing on the intercom finally came to a close. Wow, what a show.

"I think I'm going to like it, here… This school…" Shou laughed, "The kids here know how to have fun, the intercom-system's easy to hack—" He then looked up at one of thousands of clocks mounted on the school-walls. 8:15 A.M. Shou turns toward the group to warn them of the time.

"Better get a head-start and find your class" He says, "You've got, what? 10, 15 minutes maybe… To get to where you need to be?"

Ron and the others look up at the clock to confirm his answer; yes, about 15 minutes to get to their first class. Perfect timing, so it seems. One last look at the massive mess, Shou smiles his mysterious smile once again.

"Then again, you can still stick around… Next song's going to be the Benny Hill Theme, that'll drive them up the wall just as much. Your choice." And with that, he left to board an elevator, going up. The others stared at each other, coming to the silent decision to follow suit and find their classes. For the time-being, they parted with the mindset of how fantastic of a school-year this was going to be.

* * *

**Author's Note:**** Finally, I managed to complete this chapter… **_**phew…**_** **passes out and falls into a pile of blankets****

**Hahaha… Anyway, for a start, I'd like to thank you all that have read and enjoyed this so far, and to let you all know that this story (novel) is only going to get better. I'll try to make updates more often, but with me being in 2 AP-classes myself this year… Eh… I'll see what I can do. Hey, there's a bright side to this: the longer I'm gone, the more time I have to think about what exactly I'm going to do to keep you (awesome) readers on your toes.**

**Okay… so… Some things I'd like to point out in this story as things to keep in mind while you're still here; first off, you may have noticed Rook and Ted call Ura Ron just "Ura". Just know the "Ura" in "Ura Ron" means "reverse" and it's just functioning as Ura Ron's nickname **(it's also based on a hilarious role-play a friend and I did of Ron and Ura Ron)**. **

**Second thing: Since I'll probably be spending most of my time thinking about this story rather than writing it, there's a good chance I'll come back here to edit a few things; mainly dialogue, minor concepts, and even all their classes (yes, I actually arranged a vast majority of their school-schedules).**

**Third thing: Yes, that paper-snow-ball-war was all a huge reference to the _"Dog Fort"_ internet meme. _Dog Fort_ is probably one of my favorite memes of all time. Don't ask why, because it's a difficult thing to explain. p**

**So until next time, I'll see you all later~**

**~ It-Nerd**


	3. The Voluntary Recruit

**Chapter ****2**** – ****The ****Voluntary ****Recruit**

_About three weeks—give or take—have passed since Virtual High's rather chaotic beginning. During this time, Matsudappoiyo has—surprisingly—been improving on waking up by himself in the mornings, only in an ironic trade-off of Ron's lunch-hour consisting of a peaceful, sleeping weight on his right shoulder. Poine's circle of friends seemed to have diversified a bit since the previous year; now for the first time, she can't help but think that such a complicated system of friends along with trying to keep up with them all is, overall, a bit tiring. Ura Ron is happier than ever in Big Al's Analytical Mechanics class; since that 4-week grading-period was almost completely dedicated to the massive loads of terminology that were, strangely, effortlessly remembered; thus giving the blonde time to mess around and have some fun. Meanwhile, Poiyo was being kept plenty busy with A.P. Psychology and the dozen or so papers that his professor—none other than Dr. Hiyama Kiyoteru—had him write over that period of time. What's funny about that class__—so Poiyo thinks__—is that the class isn't nearly as bad as the stereotypes had made it appear to be. It was more so a class of critical thinking rather than lessons out of the textbooks. The sleepy UTAUloid, one day, had asked his professor why; and he ended up sitting though a 5-minute explanation of how A.P. Psychology is actually a philosophy and thinking class in disguise, and that the reason for calling it "A.P. Psychology" was to scare the students into not taking it. Poiyo had walked out of that class bewildered upon finding out the irony of it all._ Show-Choir, held at the last class-period of the day by Hatsune Miku—with IA as her assistant—wasn't nearly as large of a class as Ted had predicted before. Already a few performances have been learned and nearly perfected for a school-wide concert.

_With the first-week-of-school rush done and over with, the hallways during passing-periods ringed with the occasional talk about the upcoming annual homecoming dance; otherwise known to them as "UTAFEST". Unlike other schools and their minor diddling social festivals, UTAFEST was one of three grand school-wide celebrations. Such effort and pride was taken into each and every one; as if it became a spirit-syncing portion of their culture, so centered around music, performances, the voice, and other affiliated topics of the sort. One that missed out on such an UTAFEST—especially if it be a first opportunity for he or she—would do so crying sooner or later. UTAFEST was something planned relatively far in advance; requiring daily after-school meetings led by the Student Council to discuss the theme, layout, decorations, funding, and any other questions and issues that may arise. Word has it around Virtual High that this year's "Opening UTAFEST" is going to be huge, probably one of the greatest festivals since the school opened._

* * *

Another exhausting school-day was almost gone. Clara's Spanish lessons were still ringing in Keine Ron's head from the previous class. His ebony braid had lost a bit of its hold and his face had a hot pink tone from the strict training in Show-Choir. As much as it was annoying that if one person messes up—causing IA to blow her whistle and Miku to stop and restart the music—the fault was a collective responsibility, it was equally worth another 1st-place award on the wall alongside the 10 or 20 more. Not that it was an easy task to keep up the consecutive stream of gold-awards, for the other districts in the NicoNico-community sometimes put up a challenging competition, so they trained for the toughest.

"Alright, everyone, good job today!" IA called out to the class as they held their finishing pose for their last song, "We've got 10 minutes left before the bell rings, so you're free to kinda just do whatever". A vast majority of the students sat down in small groups of 3 or 4 or so and casually chatted about such-and-such things; one of these groups consisted of Poine, Teto, and Ron. Others individuals pulled out a deck of cards from his or her pocket to play a few rounds of Velocity or whatever card-game they collectively deemed entertaining that day, while others gathered around the few to join in on the fun. The class in itself consisted mainly of well-known Japanese UTAU, so stage-directions and melodies were learned at a rate of fair approval. As a plus, the songs that Miku and IA chose for the class were of good taste; and thankfully not the 'classics'; well-known songs that gain popularity a little too quickly and that everyone else likes to make UTAU Covers of nonstop.

The intercom sounded unexpectedly, and the class fell silent and looked up to the ceiling-speaker to listen to the news:

_"__Good afternoon, everyone! This is Defoko speaking for the Student Council in regards to this year's Opening UTAFEST coming up in the next five or six weeks..."_ She paused, as if expecting something.

For a short while, faint cheers can be heard through the thick school-walls from other classrooms—maybe even other floors—of the building. Some from the Show-Choir giggled at the coincidence, but were then immediately hushed by Miku. They were all waiting eagerly for this moment.

_"...We have decided to make some slight changes in our procedures leading up to UTAFEST along with its preparations, so listen carefully. First off: we moved the time that UTAFEST starts from Friday night after school to Saturday night. That way, you'll have plenty of time to prepare for it rather than being in a 2-hour rush from school to home and back to school again."_

The students exchanged glances and nodded in approval.

_"Second: The theme that the Student Council took a vote on will require as much help as we can get from the rest of you here at Virtual High. We can't rely on just volunteers alone, so we came up with a solution: indentured volunteers will be selected by the class that students are currently in this semester; and they will be required to stay after school to help contribute to decorations and other features in this year's UTAFEST. On the bright side, however, the students in the classes nominated to volunteer are exempt from any homework that their teachers assign during this time. Students that decide to volunteer on their own are also part of this new policy to a certain extent." Defoko paused again, allowing for the listeners to let the information sink in.  
"And now, for the list of nominated classes: Interior and Fashion Design, 2D Art, 3D Art, Piano II and III, the Virtual High Orchestra, Building Construction, Culinary Arts, AP Calculus, and AP Psychology. First volunteer meeting is tomorrow after school in the gym. We look forward to seeing you there. Thank you and have a great day."_

The speakers sounded off again, thus ending the afternoon announcements. The whole Show-Choir class sat and gazed around at one another in silence for a bit, then began to question and comment about the UTAFEST decisions left and right; Why so many volunteers? Why wasn't Show-Choir nominated to assist? Doesn't Show-Choir usually perform at UTAFEST? What kind of theme would need Building Construction, Art, and Psychology consecutively contributing to the same thing? One assumption was for certain: This year's Opening UTAFEST was going to be _huge_. The cacophony the conversations were creating became a bit much; to the point where IA had to blow her whistle to keep everyone quiet and to have their attention.

"Okay, okay, everyone!" She called out, hushing down the remaining talking UTAUloids, "I know there's a lot going on regarding our Show-Choir and the UTAFEST, but Miku and I have a good explanation."

"Let's see, now…" Miku mumbled as she sat at her desk in front of her laptop, skimming a recent e-mail sent from the Student Council, "According to this e-mail, we'll be doing our performances the Friday right _before_ UTAFEST". She looked up at the rest of the class, rather interested. "I suppose it has to do with whatever theme they're doing, or maybe they didn't have the room to fit it in". The students exchanged glances and nodded in agreement. With ironic timing, the anticipated bell rang, and the hallways filled quickly with students excited about what's to come along with simply coming home after a long school-day.

* * *

"So… Are you going to be a volunteer or what?" Ura Ron questioned Ron, as he attempted parkour over the couch, making a rough, bouncy landing on the cushions.

"I'll think about it after I help Poiyo here get done with his Spanish homework" The original answered from the kotatsu table that he and Poiyo sat at, "In two days, there's a test on everything we've learned so far, and I need to make sure he's prepared. Go bother Poine or something". Ura Ron scoffed playfully while rolling off the couch and finding his way to the kitchen as Ron casually and carelessly shooed him off.

"Okay, anyway…" Ron brought his attention back to Poiyo, "Sorry about that, where were we?"  
"I think we were just finishing up reviewing for the food-unit".  
"Ah, yes, that's right… Do you have any more questions before we move on to the grammar?"  
"No, I don't think so, but…"  
"But…?"

"…Why do I have a feeling that there's words missing from the list that we should know?"  
"Probably because you didn't write all the words like Clara told us to do."  
"No, no, I have all the words, I mean… like… _extra __words_."  
"Like what?"  
"Like… What's chicken in Spanish?"  
"Oh, um… _Huh__…_" Ron sat baffled slightly, "Hold on, let me see what the dictionary says". He flipped though pages left and right, first by the masses, then gradually by the individual pages to sort out the next few letters of the word, narrowing the range of pages the definition would be hiding in. A likely page was found and the entries were skimmed through for the right word, finding it near the bottom of the page.  
"_Pollo._"  
"What, what is it?"  
"No, it's _pollo._"  
"No, _I__'__m_ Poiyo."  
"No, no, the definition: _pollo!_"  
"_What?_ What did I do?"  
"_N__othing!_ Just… Look". Keine Ron slid the open book over to where Poiyo could see it.  
"Oooohh… _pollo._"  
"Yes, _Poiyo_… That's the word for chicken."

The two of them simply gazed at each other, dumbfounded for a brief moment, from the irony that slowly dawned upon them as something rather humorous. Smiles grew on each of their faces as small, somewhat suppressed, giggles steadily intensified in the passing moments. They joked and commented on the coincidence further—along with mentioning other funny instances in Spanish, such as the hilarious difference between _esposa_ and _esposas,_ and even Ron's name had an unexpected definition in Spanish as well—until they were laughing loud enough for Poine to hear from her bedroom the next floor up.

* * *

In what seemed to be a rather interesting night and a slow, tired start that next morning, blurred together in the lapse of time—not entirely sure if it quickened in pace or not—the group of about 10 or so friends rendezvous once again at the big table on the second floor of the school library. Surprisingly enough, even after a few weeks into school, no one below took the few seconds to look up and notice that there was more to the library than that of the crowded first floor. At this point in time, however, there was neither a good reason—nor the motive in the students themselves—to disperse among the other levels of the library; for the word "UTAFEST" rang excitedly among the cacophony of conversation. They talked about the volunteer work; how some were planning to attend the first meeting after school to become official volunteers, while others preferred to take an academic advantage over the physical labor of the preparations, or perhaps some would simply opt out for the element of surprise on the night of the Opening UTAFEST. Another factor mentioned by some that wouldn't attend the Volunteers' Meeting involved a schedule interference; usually from that of a few-hour night-shift in a cute little shop somewhere among hundreds in Downtown NicoNico. Kasane Teto—one in the group of ten alongside the glass-bordered balcony above—was among those that had such a position to occupy; but since she was required by the school to assist in setting up for UTAFEST, she was in a bit of a dilemma. Thankfully, though, the drill-hair girl was friends and co-workers with Miku, who would be more than happy to cover for her shift and coax their boss into arranging the proper accommodations. Every UTAUloid had something unique to say in regards to whether or not they could go or how much of a use they thought they would be.

"…It really depends on the theme that the Student Council is keeping a secret—for some odd reason" Ron's quirky blonde look-alike declared. Such a statement would be sure to raise some eyebrows and cause a chain-reaction to some other good points.  
Sora laughed quietly to himself for a brief moment: "Yeah, Ura Ron, what're you planning on doing, cake-decoration?"  
"Hey, I can decorate a good cake!" The other blonde responds stubbornly; standing up, leaning over the table, with one hand on it for support and the other pointing to himself for emphasis.  
"Yeah? Since when?"  
"Since…" He was dumbfounded, and slowly descends into his seat, not so willing to admit it, a slight frown appearing on his face, "Since I began working at the little bakery downtown". He kept a majority of his focus at the edge of the table, trying to avoid most eye-contact with the others. The slightly embarrassed blonde murmured slightly: "I hate admitting it, that sort of thing".  
Ruko, more so joyous than usual—whether the cause be the vast influences of excitement from the other 3000 or more students or from a more simplistic factor—came to an epiphany, smiling lightly, pointing to the look-alikes respectively: "Oh~ Looks like Ron and Ura really _are_ the inverses of each other! Ron likes to cook, while Ura does the pastries and deserts! They'd be a perfect team, right?".  
"They _would_ be a perfect team if their personalities didn't interfere so much" Ted brings up a good point, his glasses gleaming for a second in the light. The so-called 'twins' would dominate, with unimaginable quality, the task of preparing food for a large gathering of people. If all went well—and by "well", absolutely no bickering or any type of sibling disputes—those enjoying the feast would think of both the main course and the dessert as a fine, rare delicacy; and to later on discover the product came from that of their own people, a surprise within itself.  
"Oh, yeah!" Ura Ron laughed, "…Like on the first day of school when Ron and I got into that little slapping-fight and you tried to stop it!"  
"Don't remind me…"  
"Hey, Ron, you can help out in UTAFEST, can't you?" Poine said with a confident smile on her face, "If the theme is something grand and classy… like… a 5-star restaurant kinda thing, you can be the headmaster chef! I mean, just imagine all the people that'll be there, and wondering: 'Who in the _world_ did this awesome food?'"  
Ron was in a somewhat bashful denial upon her boasting about his hidden talents, "Poine, you know I'm not all _that_ great…"  
"Are you kidding, Ron? You're _amazing_."  
"No, really, I—"  
"Ron…" Poine gave him one of _those_ looks, a silent last warning to shut up for a moment. She leaned in a little closer to him to make a point: "_I_ think that _you_ should go to that UTAFEST meeting… Just to see if you're even the _slightest __bit_ worthy of being headmaster chef, okay?". She smiled again for reassurance.  
The boy in green was limited in his choice of words: "…Alright. I'll consider it, and… _maybe_ I'll go".  
"Good~"

* * *

Before he knew it, he was in the practice-studio where the Show-Choir class took place. Ron Keine had never felt so conflicted about such a thing; it was a mental, unspoken battle between his personality—along with his confidence in cooking, or, perhaps, lack thereof—against Poine's rather powerful—yet, strangely motherly—influences to put his talents to the test and to enjoy what is, more than likely, going to be the greatest UTAFEST there ever was. Truly, his decision fluctuated time and time again in both extremes—though the reader may recall the so-called "compromise" made to Poine that morning. _"All __the __talk __about __UTAFEST__… __Is __it __really __all __worth __it?__"_ he would think_._ Or perhaps, out of a curiosity that gradually wore down his own silent suppression against it, he would come across a contradicting thought: "_but __what__'__s __wrong __with __having __a __little __fun? __Besides, __Poine __has __a __point__…"_ The fairly known boy was well aware that the food—in this instance or any instance for that matter—was one of the more important factors in such an event. Considering to converse with Poine about the subject matter again, he is but only half knowingly aware of his excitement for the upcoming UTAFEST. And at the given time, he was more than willing—though he wouldn't dare admit to others or even himself—to settle once and for all the significance of either opportunity cost.

During that time-frame, when the class kept him both physically and mentally busy, his thoughts were generally on temporary hiatus; a relief in some sense, especially since such a festival and the concerns associated with it caused a near-sleepless night or two. On the contrary, with so much talk and excitement from the UTAFEST and all its future participants doing nothing but occupying a majority of the thought-process, the subject-matter became rapidly habitual to mentally dwell upon. When said subject was forced on its momentary leave, his state of mind was almost blank, as if on pause; as if the dizzying control of itself exceedingly suppressed the full potential of the open and high-functioning thought. Yet, surprisingly, considering his aloof condition, the boy with the iconic blue eyes and black braid managed to keep perfectly in-step with the remainder of the show-choir and on-beat with the music that filled the air by none other than a few giant speakers from various locations of the room. And before his own discombobulated perception of time told him so, the lessons and practice were complete for the day, and the class was permitted to relax during the end-of-class smidgen of free time.

Teto and Poine sat down somewhere on the wide open floor with him, as usual, and were then told of his conversation with Matsudappoiyo in the Spanish class prior to the current one. He was, at that point in time, convinced to stay at home; not only to assist Poiyo with compensating for lost study-time, but also to help Poine with watching over Ura Ron while Poiyo was gone. The reader may remember that Ura Ron has a secret fondness of the sweeter desserts—especially that of cakes with both elegant design and taste—and if there be a case in the near-future where the school call upon his little downtown bakery for the task of making one of the biggest cakes ever made, that case would be delayed until about two weeks prior to the UTAFEST itself. Until then, Ura Ron has some free time, regardless of whether or not he should participate in the actual preparations. The boy would be a hassle for Poine to watch and care for by herself, since that quirky and wildish blonde was a handful of responsibility, and seemingly more so for each passing week. At hearing this, Poine frowned slightly—especially at Ron's own extra input regarding his blonde derivative—but, nonetheless, was easily able to elicit some counterpoints and flaws to Poiyo's logic; as it was more than likely from experience. By the end of the miniature lecture, Ron's mindset, once again, was on a complete turnaround due to the partial-motherly influence; willing, once again, to be a part of the UTAFEST, and this time, almost for certain. Sure, Poiyo would be a tad bit confused at the moment he caught sight of Ron and his sister at the afterschool meeting, but all would be settled after some explanation on Ron's part, and then Poine's upon homeward arrival. As for Ura Ron, his behavior patterns when with Poine and Poine alone are neither known nor questioned about.

The bell dictating the end of the school-day rang, and all the students excitedly and rapidly filled the hallways once again, cheering excitedly all within it. The Overseas UTAU must have started their own week-long trend, starting with a boy shouting above the cacophony of voices: "Dear ladies, smile! You're _all_ beautiful!"; followed by a girl shouting in response: "Dear weird boy in space, don't tell _me_ what to do!". Laughter ensued. To Ron watching the revelry unfold from the sidelines, he pondered, for a moment, at the differences between Overseas UTAU and "The Locals" such as himself. Just what in the world _do_ they consider funny, and is it _that__much_ different from the humor of The Locals? Ron knew very well that a UTAU could only be one or the other; and that when he or she becomes one of them in particular, that the opportunity of seeing the world in the perspective of the other type is missed. The attempt to try and see the other side of UTAU culture was short-lived, and Ron navigated the hallways through the crowded hallways, as he usually did, to his locker, and then onward to the gymnasium, where the first meeting was being held.

* * *

The school gymnasium of Virtual High was probably among the largest of all the NicoNico schooling districts. The main floor was large enough to do almost any kind of sport, or even a combination of some sports simultaneously. Above it, similarly to the layout of the library, a balcony bordered by chrome and glass encircled the whole gymnasium; and at some distance behind the waist-high glass walls were retractable bleachers, all of which were out and partially occupied by the individuals who figured the floor below was far too crowded. Ron looked down over the balcony; and saw that the entire square footage of the gym floor was almost completely covered by a vast crowd of volunteers, including those that were required to be there. Among the crowd, Ron found Poiyo, taking a light nap before the meeting began. It wasn't a difficult task to pick him out, though, since the others surrounding Poiyo sat a small distance away from him, letting him be as he slept. Most of everyone knew of Matsudappoiyo and how he was notorious for taking naps. From the balcony above, the view was actually rather humorous, but not nearly enough to laugh about it. He backed away from the balcony's edge, and found Poine sitting at a convenient area on the bleachers. She smiled in greeting as he sat down next to her.

Time for salutations or small-talk was rather shortened, and a Vocaloid voice could be heard loud and clear from the. Everyone's talking ceased as they paid attention excitedly to the speaker; standing in the center of the crowd up on an elevated podium, stood a few Vocaloids; including Big Al, who was holding a large megaphone.

"Alright, everyone..." He began, testing the quality of the megaphone one last time before officially starting. Poiyo woke up from his nap, and sleepily pushed himself up to a—somewhat—upright sitting position. He could hear a few girls around him say "Awww~" as his eyes blinked slowly.  
The gymnasium was in complete silence as they listened to the brunette Vocaloid.  
"Good afternoon everyone… And—_Wow_—We have quite a bit more people than I expected..." He paused for a quick moment, before giving out directions for everyone. "...Okay, so here's what's going down: Those of you required to volunteer should all be here on the first floor in front of me, alright? What you're all doing is going to whatever teacher that teaches the class that brought you here, and they'll take you all to different parts of the building to tell you whatever game-plan they have for you. You'll know what to do after that. Now, for those of you that aren't here because you're required to: After the others are out, you can gather 'round, come down from the second floor—yes, I see you all up there—so that Kaito, SeeU, Gackupo, Kiyoteru, and I can assign you various jobs or put you with a certain group. Remember, you gotta be here _every__day_ after school just like those that have to be here, so if you don't think you can, you can still make it to the buses if you need to get home."

Silence filled the entire gym. Big Al smiled.

"Alright, let's do this!"

The students on the gym-floor went to their corresponding teachers, and Ron could see Poiyo sleepily stand up and walk over to Dr. Kiyoteru. He could see not more than twenty students gather around him, and shortly after, leave for wherever they were heading. Several minutes pass, and after she cacophony of those that are required to volunteer leave the vast gymnasium, the remaining UTAU approached the Vocaloid sponsors in small groups, and were each assigned to a certain Vocaloid depending on his or her individual talents or qualities. Eventually, it was Ron's turn. When the second crowd had almost entirely cleared out, the fair UTAU approached Big Al. With a smile, the brunette Vocaloid looks down at him.

"Hello, there... You're a volunteer, yes?"  
"Yes, sir."  
"So... Tell me: What's your name?"  
"Ron... Keine Ron"  
"Oh, you were Gumi's favorite in Trigonometry last year..."  
"Um... What?"  
"Ah, forget I said that, what can you do, Ron?"  
"Yes, about that..." Ron fumbled with his words a bit, "I was considering taking position as... I don't know... Headmaster Chef, maybe?"

Big Al laughs for a brief moment.  
"You ought to be requesting that with _confidence_, boy!"

Ron couldn't exactly figure out a way to respond to that, other than dumbly blinking once or twice. The Vocaloid continues talking to him, casual smiles and all.

"I'm assuming you're talking about cooking, right? Listen, since Meiko is already the Headmaster Chef, I'll sign you up for the next-best position; her first-class assistant. You two can discuss recipes, keep the others little chefs in top-notch shape, whatever it is you chefs-to-be do...". Ron smiled at his comment, "...and if it's a slow day of if everything's running smooth, you can always go to Piko or Roro to help with the little decorations... Does that sound okay to you?"

Nodding, deeply considering the circumstance, Ron can easily agree: "...Sure."

"Alright, go get 'em, tiger. Third floor."

Keine Ron nods, heading out of the gym the same way everyone else did. Perhaps Poiyo is also on the third floor, and Ron will find him and explain why he decided to contribute to the UTAFEST in the end. Surely, Poiyo wouldn't be too upset about the whole ordeal, right? That is, if Ron ever has the chance to see him.

Little does Ron know that any effort to find Poiyo would be hopeless anyway; and that he and Poiyo will never meet with one another after school while preparing the UTAFEST. Poiyo never suspects it, and Ron—thinking that the other would figure out on his own—never tells.

* * *

**_Author's Note:_ *phew* Another chapter done! Aren't all you readers happy for such a nice, long, chapter? :3  
Alright, I have some things to explain, don't I? Yes… Um…  
First off, I'm sure you might have noticed a massive change with the style of the writing. That's because I started this fanfic in the summer and by the time I was writing this chapter, I was already in English class reading the Scarlet Letter, Edgar Allen Poe's works, and other works of about that difficulty. Yes, me doing a lot of reading is definitely going to have an influence in how I write, and… If it's a bit strange to you, then I'm sorry.**

**Second thing, some of the main characters may not be exactly so accurate in personality—Ron being so indecisive, for example—and I'm sorry for that, too. It's difficult for me to think in terms of other personalities, so I might have a small element of myself incorporated into each main character. Again, sorry if inaccuracy bothers you.  
Third thing: I went back and edited some little bits of the previous chapter, mainly because I thought some things over, and I ended up redoing everyone's class-schedules along with making a few edits to some of the dialogue. So if you want, you can go back and skim over Chapter 1 to see if you missed anything. (I might end up revising this chapter, too, eventually... orz)  
So… Yes. This is kind of where the official plot begins, so right now, think of the previous chapters you've read as warm-ups or prologues to the real deal. I really, really hope you've enjoyed the story thus far! It's difficult for me to keep up with loads of school-work, recording UTAU, and a whole bunch of other things, so thank you so much for your patience, I promise you, I'm doing my best here trying to keep up.**

_** Thank you for reading this far~**_

_** ~It-Nerd**_


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